1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to prepaid phone services, and more particularly to a system and method for electronic dispensing of a receipt reflecting prepaid telephone services to be used by customers in place of current prepaid telephone cards, including electronic debiting of an account for costs associated therewith.
2. Description of the Related Art
Telephone companies currently sell a physical card product that allows consumers to purchase pre-paid phone services, such as long distance time, in predetermined increments of time, on the respective company's network(s). Consumers purchase these cards for the convenience of a calling card with the security of a pre-set spending limit. These cards may be the typical plastic cards normally associated with the debit and credit industry or are wallet-sized cardboard cards imprinted with PIN (personal identification number) information and dialing instructions. These cards are designed to be discarded once the time purchased is consumed. The value of the card is maintained on the respective telephone company's network system. For purposes of convenience, “Company” will refer hereinafter to the specific telephone system carrier on whose network time is to be pre-purchased.
Such prepaid telephone cards are sold at retail outlets, either over-the-counter or through vending machines. An ordinary retail receipt is issued for the cards purchased when the cards are purchased over-the-counter. Such receipts give the customer no additional information other than that phone cards were purchased, the cost of the card(s) purchased, the date, and, normally, the retailer where the cards were purchased.
There are a number of drawbacks to the process described above. A customer must find a retail outlet which is open and is not out of calling cards. If a large purchase of telephone network time is desired, many retail outlets in the evening and night do not accept large denomination currency to pay for purchases. Additionally, the retail outlet must maintain and track a secured inventory of cards by number and denomination, and report the sales and number of cards sold to the Company. Such a system is very labor-intensive and costly to operate. Moreover, there is considerable expense on behalf of the Company to produce and distribute the cards to the retailers.